I have a dream that one day our nation of St Lucia will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “The Land, the People, the Light.” I have a dream that one day looking up to the rising hills of the Pitons, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners now only separated by the politics of colour, will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day this politics of colour that has created a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of fairness, justice and peace. I have a dream that my two children will one day live in a nation which embraces this truth, that light will shine on this blessed land with the acceptance that all people must be judged by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
It is alright to dream, it is alright to have a vision. So I shall continue to dream, to dream of a day when we rise to accept that as a region we are mature to judge ourselves. I dream of a day when we can move towards the Caribbean Court of Justice as our final Appellate Court, and accept that the moral content of our judges is not shaped by the appendage of the word lord.
I shall dream of a day when decisions on infrastructure projects are not driven by political expediency but birthed in the cradle of sound technical and economic analysis. I shall dream of the day when our policy makers are vigilant and do not allow the rafters of state affairs to decay and the roof to fall in through indolence and through idleness of hands the house leaks and instead of repairing the breaches, they make feasts for laughter, and serve wine and look towards taxes to answer all things.
I have a dream that corruption, this unfortunate abortifacient, will never be allowed to induce the abortion of the progress of this great nation. I shall dream of the day when the cultural modification by our long association with the core principles of Christianity, shall be reflected in every dealing within the society, such acculturation I seek after.
I have a dream that we as a nation would embrace the concept of relevant education, one that allows the unveiling of the full potential of our children. A concept of education that links the development of the child to the society’s productive and socio-cultural dimensions, an education that causes the pollination, the flowers to bloom, the evidences of the salubrity of a nation.
I shall dream of the day when that recalcitrant minority within our society, whose sole intent and purpose is to thwart the development of our nation, those who believe that the weight of their loudness can cause the maximum deflection of the beam of reason, shall be silenced by a rising chorus of an awakened society.
I have a dream of a day when we move away from the proclivity of judging the fruit by the flower, that we are not deceived by the flower of words, but judge by the fruit of actions.
I have learned that there is a secret to contentment in God that allows one to have the same joy in times of abundance and in times of need, to be fully satisfied possessing plenty or nothing. It is a wonderful place when you transition from being possessed by things to become possessed by God.
In that place you can dream, in that place you can believe that all things are possible.